Happy Henlow Adventures

This week I treated myself and went to get my nails done. I always love it - just the process is relaxing. I’m not into any other beauty stuff at all but I do love half an hour of someone looking after my hands for me and I enjoy having pretty nails at the end of it. Whenever I go to get them done I always try to chose a colour or combination of colours that represents something that I am doing in the next few weeks. We’re going to Center Parcs shortly so it made sense for this time’s nails to be some sort of outdoorsy colour. I opted for a green as it’s just so lovely being in the woods while you’re there. Always add a little sparkle too as sparkles make you smile. Hope everyone’s had a good week.

We have recently become proud owners of the new road beast - a Isuzu d-max pickup truck. The idea is that we’re going to use it to help us go exploring a bit more - we’re planning on using it as a mini camper van (as we really can’t afford a proper one!) I’ve been patiently waiting to get to have a drive of it but yesterday was the day. I got Adam to take me into his work car park when it was empty and had a drive round there first to get used to it (I drive a KA normally so this is huge!!) I did a few laps but passed the test and was trusted out onto the road to drive it home. It was so exciting. Not ideal for city driving so not sure I’ll be borrowing it to take it to work any time soon but I want to keep practicing when I can at the weekends and get used to driving it more.  It’s dead comfy inside too (once you’ve managed to climb in) - I especially love the heated seats which are amazing when Adam insists on having the air con on throughout the winter. We are still after

This weekend was quite a busy one one way or another so there’s not much for me to report but the weekend before the weather wasn’t great. We could have gone for a walk Saturday morning but I decided that I wanted to get my car cleaned so we did the inside here with the hoover and wiped down all the surfaces. Adam even managed to get the chewing gum out of my seat! After that the weather turned and wasn’t great so we stayed in in the afternoon and watched the rugby on tv while starting on some Lego. Sunday morning was the same - absolutely chucking it down and the wind was so bad it was going sideways! Sunday was definitely a PJ day so we have finished the Lego house. Here’s how the build went: Starting with the basement at the bottom - a little storage space in there but I like the little mouse trap included on the floor. The first floor is a little living space with a table, hat an umbrella stand, cabinet in the corner and a fireplace too.  It’s starting to take shape no

Last Sunday after our walk we cane home and hunkered down for the rest of the day. I had this jigsaw that I had borrowed from my friend at work to do and I thought it looked really nice to do so I worked on this. It didn’t take me too long this one - I think I started it on the Friday night or Saturday and it was done by the end of Sunday. I didn’t even stop to take photos at any point - I forgot on the one or two occasions that I did leave it so all I have for you is this completed photo.  It was an interesting jigsaw and educational as well - trying to guess where all of the animals would go based on where they are actually from. I guess you could figure out that I enjoyed this one as I finished it so quickly. Nicely colourful, good detail and plenty going on in almost every piece.

Last weekend we went for another little walk down by a slightly different part of the canal this time.  Not so much wildlife on the water down this part do we had to make do with the pigeons and a horse in a nearby field     We walked back through a lovely little village/hamlet back to where we had parked the car next to some allotments. On the way we bought some lovely honey. It’s incredible! Local honey a lady who kept her own bees had made. That was amazing on last Sunday’s breakfast! We also wandered past this tree that looked like it had been struck by lightening. Look at that huge hole in the middle of it! It was a lovely little wander we went for - the weather was beautiful. It was lovely and cold but sunny at the same time - a perfect winter morning again. A lot different to this weekend’s weather!

This is one of the jigsaws I’ve completed recently. It’s a wasgij that I always enjoy. Here goes: These are all the remaining pieces at this point- getting there. And here’s the completed jigsaw I like this one showing the chaos of nighttime in this house as all the animals and toys are the only ones awake. I still like to think that toys do this when we are not looking. It’s that whole toy story idea - I love it! Here’s the original picture of the scene as everyone is off to bed. Have a good night all - I hope all your toys have great fun tonight while you’re sleeping.

A week and a half ago as well as going up to Yorkshire for Burns night, I also went to do a course with Caroline for the weekend. It was a Bronze NNAS Navigating course. We thought this would be really useful for the coast to coast as it teaches you how to read a map, use a compass and generally get yourself around on footpaths, open access area and public rights of way. The course was brilliant, exactly what we needed to know - how to find where you are on a map, orientate it based on your surroundings and using a compass and generally how to follow paths and hopefully therefore not get too lost when we did the coast to coast in September. There was a little bit of theory work in the morning on the Saturday to learn about contor lines on maps and how they would show different shapes on the ground, a bit of info about using an ordnance survey map and what types of maps to use for what circumstances. It was all very interesting and then slightly scary when we went out to our it into

It was a while ago that it was suggested that I try to take on the coast to coast walk. I suggested it to my friend (when we had both had a fair amount to drink) and considering I agreed to do the most stupid thing I’ve ever done in my life for her in 2018, she agreed to do this with me. This was 2018’s challenge: Bungee jumping off the Middlesbrough transporter bridge. Caroline went first  Closely followed by me We both said that it was absolutely horrendous and definitely never to be repeated! So this year the coast to coast walk feels a much more sensible option. Although a lot longer and requiring a lot more prep! Caroline has done most of the organising so far which I am hugely grateful for. She has got us some hoodies for each of us to wear - and I have to say it’s the softest most comfortable hoodie I think I have ever owned too! We did one little training walk together in the summer to see if we didn’t get insanely lost and could survive in each other’s company